Over half of the world’s hearing aids are made by 3 Danish companies (UBS 2019). In 1950 Denmark became the first country in the world to provide hearing aids for free to its citizens (Hindhede 2013). The country combines a comprehensive and generous government welfare system with an innovative and entrepreneurial private sector.

Country’s healthcare system in a nutshell

Denmark’s healthcare system is built on four pillars (Sternberg, 2022):

1. Universal coverage

2. Financed by general taxes

3. Free and equal access

4. High degree of decentralisation

The system has fully embraced digitalisation. Each region is responsible for storing electronic health record (EHR) data in the region’s data repository. EHR coverage is comprehensive, with healthcare providers legally required to report to these regional repositories. The two EHR systems in use (EPIC and Systematic) operate independently without direct data exchange. The national E-Journal shows healthcare professionals information from the EHRs of other regions (Fragidis & Chatzoglou, 2018; Jensen & Thorseng, 2017; Tikkanen et al., 2020).

Health insurance covers the entire population of ’s health data through Sundhed.dk. It also provides clinical information and guidelines that may not be available in their local EHR. For example, GPs can access hospital EHRs, waiting lists, and contact details for other healthcare professionals (Petersen, 2019).

Challenges and areas for improvement

Despite its many strengths, there are still areas where the system could improve to further enhance patient engagement and functionality.

• The inability for patients to connect personal health devices, such as home monitoring devices, to their records.

• Patients cannot currently add their own health data to their medical records.

Statistics

Usage

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The Norwegian Directorate of eHealth, 2022

Most used services

1. Laboratory results (Corona test results included)

2. Patient journal

3. Medicine card

4. Patient & Doctors handbook

5. Image descriptions

6. Appointments

7. Find a practitioner

(The Norwegian Directorate of eHealth, 2022)

Nordics NPS and knowledge

Denmark:

• Net Promoter Score*: 21 (2021)

• 96% has heard of sundhed.dk (2021)

In comparison to other Northern European countries for context:

Finland:

• Net Promoter Score*: 52 (2020)

• Second most respected web site (2020)

Norway:

• Net Promoter Score*: 48 (2021)

• 97% has heard of Helsenorge (2021)

Sweden:

• Net Promoter Score*: 45 (2021)

• 99% has heard of 1177 (2020)

*Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a tool to measure customer likelihood to recommend a company, a product or a service to a friend or colleague.

• -100-0: Bad

• 0-30: Good

• 30-70: Very good

• 70-100: Excellent

(The Norwegian Directorate of eHealth, 2022)

Screenshots

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Homepage of Sundhed.dk

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This screenshot shows what patients see after selecting "Access your health data" on Sundhed. The original translation from Danish contains some inaccuracies. Here's the revised version: The "Access your health data" section allows patients to log in with MitID to view health data that the healthcare sector has recorded about them. The "Health journal" provides access to hospital records, test results, referrals, the patient's medication card, and a summary of past visits to general practitioners, specialists, dentists, and physiotherapists. "Laboratory answers" should be corrected to "Laboratory results," and "Practicing physician" should be revised to "General practitioner." The "Declaration of consent" requires patients to give consent for their personal health data to be displayed on Sundhed.dk. In the "Registrations" section, the phrase "status of screening procedures" should be changed to "Status of screening process." Additionally, "Onion" should be corrected to "Log," where patients can view and track inquiries made by systems regarding their medical treatment and transitions between healthcare providers over the past two years. This log also shows inquiries made by individuals who have been granted power of attorney, and patients can view their children's logs until they turn 15, as well as those of individuals for whom they hold power of attorney.

Bibliography

• Fragidis, L.L. and Chatzoglou, P.D., 2018. Implementation of a nationwide electronic health record (EHR): The international experience in 13 countries. International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, 31(2), pp.116-130. Available at: Implementation of a nationwide electronic health record (EHR): The international experience in 13 countries (accessed 3 November 2024).

• Hartlev, M., 2014. Overview of the national laws on electronic health records in the EU Member States: National Report for Denmark. Available at: https://health.ec.europa.eu/document/download/adaaa3b6-b336-4e65-8897-2b05a689f193_en (accessed 21 August 2024).

• Hindhede, A and Larsen, K, 2019. The rise and fall of audiology in Denmark, 1950-2010. Available at https://praktiskegrunde.dk/2013/praktiskegrunde(2013-1+2f)hindhede-larsen.pdf (accessed 2 November 2024).

• Jensen, T.B. and Thorseng, A.A., 2017. Building national healthcare infrastructure: the case of the Danish e-health portal. In Information Infrastructures within European Health Care: Working with the Installed Base, pp.209-224. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK543679/ (accessed 25 July 2024).

• Nielsen, N.B., Sekkal, C.K. and Yoganathan, S., 2021. Online Investigations on Optimizing the Danish Health Portal Sundhed.dk. In Context Sensitive Health Informatics: The Role of Informatics in Global Pandemics, pp.89-93. IOS Press. Available at: IOS Press Ebooks - Online Investigations on Optimizing the Danish Health Portal Sundhed.dk (accessed 3 November 2024).

• Our World in Data, 2011. Percentage of population covered by health insurance. Available at: Percentage of population covered by health insurance (Accessed 2 November 2024).

• Petersen, M.E., 2019. Achieving better health and well-being via the Danish e-Health portal sundhed.dk. Eurohealth, 25(2), pp.20-23. Available at: https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/332595/Eurohealth-25-2-20-23-eng.pdf (accessed 25 July 2024).

• Sternberg, J., 2022. Denmark: the leading digital health nation. Digital Switzerland. Available at: Denmark: the leading digital health nation (accessed 25 July 2024).

• Sundhed.dk, 2023. Background. Available at: https://www.sundhed.dk/borger/service/om-sundheddk/om-organisationen/ehealth-in-denmark/background/ (accessed 25 July 2024).

• TEHDAS Towards European Health Data Space, n.d. TEHDAS country visits. Available at: https://tehdas.eu/tehdas1/packages/package-4-outreach-engagement-and-sustainability/tehdas-country-visits/ (accessed 25 July 2024).

• The Norwegian Directorate of eHealth, 2022. Comparative analysis 2022: National Health Portals in the Nordics. Available at: https://assets.ctfassets.net/e03pgm1m5c6m/32Ntg6PRQXKIKjuCHpGKBU/cb0a883fb7b0bd651f71b9ef68da1cd9/2022_Nordic_National_Health_Portals_report_v1.1__1_.pdf (accessed 25 July 2024).

• Tikkanen, R., Osborn, R., Mossialos, E., Djordjevic, A. and Wharton, G.A., 2020. International Health Care System Profiles - Denmark. The Commonwealth Fund. Available at: Denmark (accessed 25 July 2024).

• Towart, L. and Meyer, S.R., 2019. Longer term investments: medical devices. UBS. Available at:https://www.ubs.com/content/dam/WealthManagementAmericas/cio-impact/Medical Devices.pdf (accessed 2 November 2024).

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